Matthew Martin: Rotorua fans left languishing

So, once again, Rotorua has been reminded, in a not-so-subtle way, that we remain the poor cousins in the family of regional sport.

Two weeks ago, the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic paraded their ANZ Championship netball trophy through the streets of Hamilton and Tauranga and the Chiefs rode victorious through the streets of Hamilton on Monday.

While Hamilton and Tauranga get to celebrate with the Magic, Rotorua misses out. The same goes for the Chiefs, who haven't been to Tauranga either.

Yes, we may be getting a wee gesture from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic when the coach and a Rotorua player make an appearance at our local netball courts tomorrow, but what happened to the Chiefs? Not a sign.

The Chiefs management told us they were disbanding this week, which meant it wasn't possible for them to visit centres outside Hamilton.

The Magic management has told us it was too difficult to bring the whole team to Rotorua for a celebration.

Apparently, it's far too difficult for the Magic to drive about an hour or so from Hamilton to Rotorua and it seems the same goes for the Chiefs.

Although this may or may not be true, perhaps consideration needs to be made at the beginning of a season to include the smaller towns and cities that are represented by these teams, just so fans across all areas - the Chiefs country covers a fairly big chunk - get to celebrate with their heroes. Let's not forget those sides are made up of players from throughout the region. They include, for example, Liam Messam and Sam Cane for the Chiefs and Elias Shadrock (who went to Western Heights High School) and Erena Mikaere for the Magic.

I would also suspect a large number of their fans come from Rotorua and hundreds of loyal supporters travel out of town to their matches.

Whatever their excuses, management for both sides should think about cities outside Hamilton when it comes to celebrating their regional achievements.

But, is it a lack of foresight or is it a "who cares, it's only Rotorua" attitude? Forgive me for being cynical, but I doubt Rotorua will get to see either side play a match in our city next season - pre-season warm-up matches do not count.

Maybe we don't have the number of fans regularly heading to their games in Rotorua, but how are we expected to support them if they don't even come here?

Are we the architects of our own downfall or are we the forgotten poor cousin who never gets invited to any family outings?